Collins: Mets sticking with Schwinden

Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
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Terry Collins said postgame that the Mets will stick with Chris Schwinden in the rotation for Wednesday's turn at Houston. The manager added that the bullpen was not taxed to the point that the organization needs to call up a reliever from the minors to get through the weekend.

The Mets could have created a 40-man roster spot for a call-up by placing Mike Pelfrey on the 60-day DL, where Pelfrey would not count as a roster player. But there was not an obvious call-up anyway, since left-hander Josh Edgin -- the best candidate -- isn't stretched out to provide the multiple innings that would be required to cover a short start.

Edgin has topped out at 37 pitches and has thrown two full innings once this season in the minors.

Collins actually believed Schwinden threw well anyway until the debacle of an 11-run fifth inning, and the manager is not in a rush to dump the right-hander from the rotation spot formerly occupied by Pelfrey anyway.

Schwinden particularly lamented his throwing error to Zach Lutz that opened the bottom of the fifth.

"I was getting into a good groove there the last three innings, and then throwing the ball away wasn't planned," Schwinden said. "It just kind of snowballed from there."

Collins said he left Manny Acosta in to absorb the rest of the damage in the 11-run inning because he did not want to burn his entire bullpen in the fifth inning, given the potential for later issues at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

"It happened pretty fast, obviously. And I didn't want to start burning out my bullpen in the fifth inning, knowing that this thing could go a long way," Collins said. "We had to get some outs, and we didn't get them."

Meanwhile, Scott Hairston's cycle -- the 10th in Mets history -- was largely lost amid the six-error ugliness. Hairston said he was thinking cycle when he doubled in his fourth at-bat. He initially was convinced Carlos Gonzalez would track down the ball, but it eventually landed beyond the left fielder.

"It was great while it was happened, but when they kept scoring runs, it just really wasn't that enjoyable, to say the least," Hairston said about the cycle. "... I think I got to 3-2 [in the fourth at-bat]. Anywhere close I was going to try to drive the ball. And I was able to do that. It was great while it lasted. It's definitely bittersweet. ... It's a big feat. It's something a lot of players can't say they've done. I'm proud of that."

As for the night overall, Hairston said: "That was a long inning. That was a long game. It's probably one of the most craziest games I've ever been a part of. But it's just one day. It's just one day in a season. We just have to put it behind us."

• Rockies right-hander Jeremy Guthrie has been scratched from Saturday's start and is being placed on the disabled list with a sprained right shoulder. Right-hander Guillermo Moscoso will be promoted from Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he is 1-3 with a 7.91 ERA, to take the start. The Rockies said Guthrie was injured when the chain broke on his bicycle and he fell.